


A Greater Demon

by Higuchimon



Series: In Solitude Lies Strength [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Advent 2015-2016, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Diversity Boot Camp, Diversity Writing Challenge, Gen, Novella Masterclass, Valentine;s Day To White Day Advent 2016, Word Count Set Boot Camp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-26
Updated: 2018-05-30
Packaged: 2019-05-14 06:14:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14764173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higuchimon/pseuds/Higuchimon
Summary: Not everyone in Dark World chose to accept Haou’s rule without question.  And battles can be fought with more than cards in a world of magic.  [hiatus:  see profile for details]





	1. Chapter 1

**Series:** In Solitude Lies Strength|| **Story:** A Greater Demon  
 **Characters:** Skull Bishop, Haou (Yuuki Juudai), Belial - Marquis of Darkness|| **Pairing:** N/A  
 **Word Count:** 4,006/32,589||chapters: 1/8  
 **Genre:** Drama, Adventure|| **Rated:** PG  
 **Challenge:** Diversity Writing, L18: a series containing 2-5 fics; Advent 2015, bonus #1, roll dice to determine story length: 20,000-40,000 words; Word Count Set Boot Camp #8, 32,589; Include The Word Boot Camp, #4, watch; Novella Masterclass, prompt #10, Wild Card; Valentine’s Day To White Day Advent 2016, day #23: write a fic where everything comes out all right (no one said it started off that way); Character Diversity Boot Camp, #14, revenge (Belial – Marquis of Darkness)  
 **Notes:** This begins at some point after the defeat of Brron, when Juudai has established himself as Haou for a couple of weeks.   
**Summary:** Not everyone in Dark World chose to accept Haou’s rule without question. And battles can be fought with more than cards in a world of magic.

* * *

To say that it began in the middle of the night wouldn’t be perfectly true, but only because Dark World didn’t have a night in the way that people from other worlds thought of such a thing. The comet’s energy dimmed for hours at a time and for the most part, that was when those who lived in that world – by choice or by chance – chose to sleep or recharge their energies or whatever it was that they had to do to be ready to return to work or pleasure. 

But in the deepest part of that time, when clocks from other worlds would’ve struck the peak of midnight, the castle of Haou-sama shook from the highest turret to the lowest basement. 

Skull Bishop rose from his rest, reaching for his weapons, as the sudden noise from outside became much too loud to ignore. He didn’t recognize any of the voices offhand, which did nothing at all for his mood. 

_Where is Haou-sama?_ In the last handful of weeks, he’d learned that his new lord and master did not look kindly upon those who disturbed him without due cause, and whatever caused all of this _had_ to be something important, something worthy of the master’s attention. 

But he stepped outside cautiously regardless, because if whatever this was couldn’t be handled by their master and his overwhelming power, then he wanted to step into it with all due caution. 

Demons, spellcasters, and warriors of all type surged through the hallways, and while some of them were familiar to his eyes, there were others who he knew shouldn’t have been there, for one reason or another. 

_Invasion!_ It took only seeing one of his own underlings cut down by one of the strangers hardly five steps away from him to understand that. He still didn’t know where his fellows of Haou’s close court were, nor Haou-sama himself, but he knew a time to defend himself when he saw one. 

Without a thought he seized hold of the warrior who’d slain his servant and thrust his blade deep within. This wasn’t a battle one would fight with cards, as thrilling as those were. This was a battle of the old-fashioned sort, where only strength and skill held sway. 

Skull Bishop quickly lost himself in the thrill of the fight, taking down enemy after enemy, with little thought for his own safety. What did he need safety for, when he devoted himself entirely to fighting those who would invade his home and strike him down if he let up for a single moment? 

He’d devoted himself to Haou-sama’s cause. He would not let himself be taken down before seeing that cause brought to fruition. Not if he had a single thing to say about it. And his sword gave him many things to say about it. 

He threw his head back and laughed as he cut down the last of those who had invaded his particular corridor, with the survivors who’d pledged themselves to Haou cowering behind him, too weary or too terrified to continue fighting for themselves. 

Fools. He marked all of them; when this invasion had been thrown back, then he would report all of them to Haou-sama, and they would suffer for their weakness and cowardice. 

Until then, they would make useful cannon fodder, one way or another. He leaned against a wall and caught his breath, not letting his blade slip from his hand, keeping himself alert in all ways. He did not trust this ended the battle, not completely. Not when there were still more shouts and cries and clash of steel and spell coming from the other levels of the castle. Not when he would trust nothing at all until Haou-sama stepped in there, preferably with the head of whatever fool thought they could get away with all of this. 

Once he could think of more than the stench of death and battle, he reached out to seize whoever came first to hand. It was Command Angel, a common soldier who’d recently been appointed to his own personal troops. He didn’t always trust angel-types, but this one had proven her worth over the last week or two. 

“Do you know what happened?” Skull Bishop demanded. He needed more information than he had in order to decide what to do next. 

Command Angel didn’t even try to get out of his grip. He couldn’t yet guess if she was too tired – he’d seen her fight until she could stand no more – or just knew that she couldn’t get away from him. 

“I don’t know, my lord Skull Bishop. I was off duty when everything started.” She tilted her head a little and it took him a moment to realize she was trying to point out someone else. “I think that she might know more, though.” 

He followed her gaze to see an elf slumped against the wall. He searched his memory but couldn’t recall whoever it was, seeing only a cloak pulled tight over their head. 

“That’s Learning Elf,” Command Angel replied to his unspoken question. “She was on guard duty when it happened.” 

Skull Bishop nodded, dropping her to one side. “Bring her over here.” He would get his answers, no matter what he had to do. 

Command Angel caught her breath for a few moments, then hurried over there. “Hey, the big guy wants to talk to you,” she said, her voice low and gentle. “He needs to know what’s been going on.” 

Learning Elf lifted her head. Only the fact Skull Bishop had seen war and injuries far beyond what he’d seen in the last hour or so kept him from being revolted. Her cloak covered still-bleeding gashes, one of her eyes looked as if she might never see again, and blood stained one side of her mouth. Part of her hair had been scorched to her scalp and she no longer seemed able to move her right hand. He could not imagine what kept her in life. 

“I don’t know who leads them,” she said, her voice low and harsh and tense. “But I stood on the battlements and there wasn’t _anything_ to indicate they were there before someone unleashed at least four or five earthquakes.” 

Skull Bishop wasn’t certain if she meant the spell card or something else altogether. But that did explain why the castle shook like it had. Whichever it was, this was beginning to be more than he thought he could handle. The bulk of the army slept elsewhere; what he had to work with here were a few pieces of his own command and many of those who fulfilled their duties to Haou-sama by working at the castle. Not nearly as many duelists or warriors as he would have wished for. 

A small slithering movement caught his eye and he snapped two words. 

“Flame Snake!” 

The one-eyed snake flinched, then turned to him with the usual broad smile of a creature that knew it wasn’t going to get out of this unharmed. “Skull Bishop-sama?” 

“Go find Haou-sama and the other Death Duelists. Tell them our situation here. Inform me of what they have to say.” 

Flame Snake ducked his head. “Of course, Skull Bishop-sama!” He darted away; as small and fast as he was, he was Skull Bishop’s best choice for learning information. Presuming, of course, the idiot didn’t try to slither away or got caught by the enemy. 

For now, he gathered up the survivors and dragged them all into his own room, setting those with the least injuries to guard the windows, while he sat himself in front of the door and waited. Here at least he knew they couldn’t be ambushed easily. 

_Who would dare attack Haou-sama?_ He knew that the young warlord hadn’t been in power all that long. Time wasn’t easy to tell in Dark World, but by his estimate, the comet’s light faded and revived perhaps twelve times since he’d first heard of Haou-sama. Not all that long, really. 

The usual procedure during times of change was to simply wait to see if the new warlord survived. The closest place to find enemies was within one’s own ranks and according to all Skull Bishop had ever heard, when Brron had first established _his_ rule in Dark World, he’d dealt with no less than five assassination attempts and two minor uprisings in the first handful of days alone. 

But ever since Haou-sama ended that, no one had dared to rise against him. There were those who avoided fighting and tried to stay away from him, fearing him and Super Fusion, but the cowards didn’t attempt to strike at Haou himself. 

This didn’t make as much sense as Skull Bishop wanted it to, and he hoped Flame Snake would return soon with more information. 

As the hours ticked by, the survivors grew quieter and quieter. A few whispered words here and there broke the silence, but not very well, and it soon descended again. Even those who were wounded said little, only silently tending their injuries, and waiting to see who would require the services of a healer and who would not see the new day. 

Learning Elf became one of those who did not see the new day. Not long before the comet’s light began to strengthen, she closed her eyes and did not open them again, fading away into pale sparkles that spiraled up toward the comet, where the souls of all those who perished were said to reside. 

Unless, of course, they became part of Super Fusion. Skull Bishop couldn’t say which he would have preferred. 

“Skull Bishop-sama!” 

It was Flame Snake. He wriggled out of a small crack between stones and flopped himself at Skull Bishop’s feet, panting, eye even rounder than usual, this time in raw terror. 

“Dreadful news, Skull Bishop-sama! Dreadful!” 

Skull Bishop wasn’t ready to fear just yet. He’d used Flame Snake as his spy and messenger for longer than he could remember, and he’d seen the small creature panic over the fact there wasn’t enough of his favorite snack. This would have to be dire indeed to disturb _him_. 

Flame Snake raised his head to meet his master’s gaze. “The castle has fallen! Your fellow Death Duelists are in chains and Haou-sama… Haou-sama...” 

In all of his life, Skull Bishop hadn’t ever known true fear for more than a handful of moments. Often it was quickly followed by awe or wonder or even the desire to serve whatever force inspired it. Now, for those few moments before Flame Snake spoke again, he wondered what the result of this would be. 

“Is he dead?” Skull Bishop asked first, wanting to get the most dreadful news out of the way and already planning vengeance for his king should it be so. 

Flame Snake quickly shook his head no. “Worse. He’s been taken.” 

“What?” 

In all of his days, Skull Bishop couldn’t grasp why someone would _not_ slay their enemy at the first chance. If somehow Haou-sama had been defeated – and he wasn’t ready yet to entertain such a notion – then why would the victor take him captive and not kill him outright? 

All that made sense for that was if they needed him for something else. A dozen options flickered through his thoughts, but he didn’t dwell on them. He still needed to know more. 

“I still don’t know who is in charge,” Flame Snake continued. “But I heard some of their underlings speaking. Haou-sama is _not_ to be harmed, but kept somewhere under guard and under spell. The new master intends to round up all of the survivors and find those who are willing to pledge to him, and all others are to be slain as soon as possible.” He twisted around carefully. “There are few left of Haou-sama’s troops. The invasion was very, very thorough.” 

Skull Bishop ground his teeth for a heartbeat before he glared down at his small spy. “ _Haou-sama_ is still in charge in this castle and there _is_ no new master.” His king still lived. His king would rule again: he would see to it personally. 

But first and foremost, he needed to find out which fool thought they could take over the castle and get away with it. Then he would set his hand to destroying them and all that they held dear. 

He turned back to Flame Snake. “Get out there and find Haou-sama’s location, and who is at the head of this. Don’t come back until you know.” 

Flame Snake breathed out, ducking his head. “Skull Bishop-sama, I...” 

Skull Bishop gave him the sternest look that he could muster. He had no desire to play around. Flame Snake murmured something unintelligible, then scurried off, vanishing into the same crack he’d come out of. 

He wasn’t the only one who heard Flame Snake’s report. A few of the others stared in his direction, murmuring among themselves, nothing very clear, but enough so he could tell their worries. He wasn’t surprised; to hear that Haou-sama had been captured by the enemy wasn’t what any of them expected. 

Magic had to be involved, Skull Bishop decided. What else could have taken down such a talented duelist? 

_But what else?_ There were many options, too many for him to make up his mind on what it might be. There had to be something else. No one could enter Haou-sama’s quarters without his permission or knowledge except a few. He had that privilege, as did Guardian Baou, Skilled White Mage, Skilled Black Mage, and Chaos Sorcerer. A few servants, but none of them were the type who would have dared to raise a hand against him. 

_Figure it out later,_ he told himself with a sharp shake of his head. He had to rest and find a way to get into a position to do more. 

For that, he needed whatever information Flame Snake could bring him. 

* * *

“Report.” He lounged back into his new throne. He would have to add some cushions. The boy could attempt to be stoic all he pleased, even to sitting in a throne of solid stone, but he preferred more comfort. 

His seven servants knelt before him. Their leader spoke first. 

“We’ve defeated or captured about three-fourths of the castle’s inhabitants.” 

“And the fourth remaining?” He tilted one eyebrow. He wanted to get them all cleared out of the way as soon as possible. Then he could establish his absolute domination without any fear that someone would attempt to rise against him. 

The second in command tossed her hair. “They’re in the third corridor on the fourth floor. As near as our information has it, they’re likely under the leadership of one of the boy’s servants: Skull Bishop.” 

“Our forces dealt a heavy blow to them,” the third of seven added. “Some of them have likely perished by now.” 

He nodded; that was the kind of information that he wanted to get. “How long to clear them out?” He wasn’t very specific on if they died or not. Either way could suit his purposes. 

“We can’t be certain just yet. It’s difficult to get close to them,” the leader said. “We’ll have to gather enough troops and overwhelm them. Skull Bishop is a talented warrior and duelist. Getting past him won’t be easy.” 

The side of his mouth twisted into something that would never be mistaken for a smile. “Then I want him. Make certain he’s taken alive.” He’d made certain that all of those who called themselves the ‘Death Duelists’ were captive already. They would become useful servants or perish. 

All things considered, he really preferred ‘perish’. He didn’t trust anyone that he hadn’t recruited himself, and preferably hadn’t served any masters other than him. Those who had other loyalties of any kind could never be fully trusted. 

There were other uses that such captives could serve, though. He saw no reason not to amuse himself with them in gladiatorial combat. Brron had had the right idea for that. 

He dismissed his servants with a wave of his hand and with another sent an order to the kitchens to have a meal prepared. So far as he was concerned, he’d achieved victory, which meant he could celebrate. 

And he saw no reason not to celebrate with the delicacies normally placed before a defeated foe. 

* * *

Skull Bishop could hear noises: footsteps. Quite a few of them, at least a battalion's worth, marching towards him. He breathed in carefully. 

“Battle is coming,” he murmured to the other survivors. “Prepare yourselves.” They knew the extent of their injuries better than he did. They could decide to fight or flee. 

Anyone who fled would be hunted down once Haou-sama regained his proper glory, of course. Skull Bishop didn’t approve of cowardice. 

But now it was time for him to display his own courage and strength. He wasn’t at his best. He’d picked up a few injuries during the first combat, though nothing life-threatening. He’d had time to rest, but not nearly enough food. He could, and would, power through this. 

Before the approaching warriors could find them, he threw open the door and charged forward. A few followed him, roaring battle cries, as he fell on the first of those who dared to come against them. He didn’t even bother to see who it was, just registering that it wasn’t someone who served Haou. He needed to know nothing more than that before his blade drank deeply. 

This castle was his home. He’d not lived there long, but he’d never had a home quite like this before. So he wouldn’t let it go without a fight: without far more of a fight than they’d already put up. 

He could see his fellow warriors falling. Command Angel shrieked and fell to a blast of fire that scorched her from head to foot. Someone that he didn’t recognize also fell to flames. He caught sight of who wielded them: a human-like being clad in robes of fire-red and white and purple. He knew the card on sight, though he’d never met the person. 

He couldn’t tell if this were the leader of the battalion, but he charged toward them anyway, ready to finish them off before they could do more damage to those who stood by him. 

Mr. Volcano only smiled as Skull Bishop came closer and then raised one hand. Skull Bishop tensed, ready for the flames. 

He wasn’t ready for the blow of ice that came from behind, nor for the embrace of the darkness that came afterward. 

“Inform Belial-sama that we’ve done it,” Mr. Volcano said, dusting his hands off. “The brat’s castle is ours.” 

He stared down at the prone form of Skull Bishop, kicking at his horned helmet briefly. What an idiot to charge outward without even being aware of who he fought. Being taken was exactly what he deserved. 

It was the beginning of what he deserved, Volcano corrected himself a heartbeat later. The foolish fiend would soon understand the depths of his folly when he found himself in Belial-sama’s arena. 

He took another look before he glanced to Neo Aqua Madoor, whose – revolting – ice magic had taken Skull Bishop down. 

“You did leave him alive, didn’t you? Belial-sama has uses yet for him.” Volcano quite anticipated seeing some of the matches that would occur in his master’s arena. He’d started himself as a gladiator, roasting all of his enemies to ash, until his skill and cunning caught the master’s eye. 

Not that he thought it would happen that way with any of these. Belial-sama never promoted those who served any master who wasn’t him, no matter how long past that master was. 

Neo Aqua Madoor rolled his eyes, even as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Of course. I heard our orders as well as you did. Do _you_ have the chains?” 

“That I do.” Volcano snapped his fingers and held a hand out. Fire Eye at once handed over the manacles, designed by Belial-sama’s servants and empowered to keep all other powers tamed and under control. 

Belial-sama allowed no one with power to use that power near him save in his own service. Volcano absolutely approved. 

It took but a moment to get the bulky fiend chained up, then dragged away. He might wake on his way to the dungeons, but he would be able to do nothing. This battle was all over. 

Mr. Volcano cast another look over the captives as they were led out under a combined force of his underlings and Neo Aqua Madoor’s. Some were chained, some were not, but all of them stared down at the floor in defeat. They had fought a good fight, but Belial-sama and his forces won in the end. 

_What’s that?_ Volcano’s eyes darted to one side. Something small and quick darted out of sight. _Some kind of vermin?_ Either that or a small monster that had escaped their attention. 

Whichever it was, if it had any sense, then it would either flee to a new master or bow before Belial-sama. Volcano suspected it would bow. Small creatures such as that had little power of their own and were best off serving those who could protect them. 

Satisfied that all was well here, he followed the trail of captives, looking forward to hearing his master’s praise, and to finding out what his master had in mind for the victory celebration. 

* * *

Flame Snake scuttled to the highest region of the castle that he knew of and curled himself into a tiny, tight ball, trying so hard not to whimper. 

_Belial! Marquis of Darkness!_ He shivered over and over, closing his eye and biting back a moan of terror. This could not be worse, not even if Brron himself somehow rose from the dead to exact his revenge. 

He didn’t know how it could have happened, but it was amazingly clear what _had_ happened. Belial and his forces infiltrated the castle and somehow took down the mighty Haou. That had been their _first_ act: cutting off the very head of their forces. 

At least it wasn’t a literal cutting off. Haou-sama still lived, if everything that he’d overheard was true. But maybe not for long. 

If he were ever powerful enough to hurt others, then _he_ wouldn’t keep someone like Haou-sama around. So probably Belial intended to get rid of him at a later date. 

Flame Snake twitched the end of his tail over and over, trying to figure out what he could do. He’d seen all five of the Death Duelists defeated and taken away in chains. Would they be kept in the castle? For how long? 

Too much that he didn’t know. Too much that he didn’t know if he could do in the first place to help anyone. He was _small_. He was practically helpless. His skills lay only in being speedy and in hiding. 

But he couldn’t bring himself to flee or to surrender. He’d sworn himself to Skull Bishop-sama years ago and he couldn’t just abandon him. He had to do _something_. 

Again his tail twitched. He tucked his head down against himself. Maybe if he rested, he would figure out an answer. There had to be one, even if the answer was merely to seek out someone who could do what he couldn’t. 

That would probably be it. He couldn’t imagine right now what else it could be. There were others of great power in Dark World. Some rumors even said that some of Brron’s servants roamed the land. But would they be willing to ally with Haou-sama and bring him back to his true glory or did they already flock to serve Belial? 

Full of questions he had no answers to and fears that nothing could soothe as the comet’s light began to strengthen and a new day began, the smallest and weakest of them all, the last survivor of Haou-sama’s army drifted into an uneasy slumber, while the forces of Belial, Marquis of Darkness, celebrated their victory. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** New story! Story that will be updated every day for WIP Week. The bulk of the story will be told from the POV of various Dark World inhabitants… and visitors. Things are going to shift just a little from canon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Word Count:** 8,114/32,589|| **Chapters:** 2/8

* * *

He breathed. Slowly. Painfully. Something hard had crashed into him and the idea of breathing without pain was one he couldn’t understand right now. 

But at least he breathed. He could hear the breath of others around him, and murmured words that he could make no sense of. Whether this was because the words themselves lacked sense or because he just couldn’t understand them, he didn’t know. 

But then a rough hand smacked his shoulder and a far too familiar voice snapped out words that he _did_ understand. 

“Wake up, idiot,” Guardian Baou demanded. “Did you intend to stay unconscious forever?” 

Skull Bishop drew in a greater, somewhat steadier breath, opened his eyes, and jerked his head so that the points of his helmet horns slashed toward Guardian Baou. The other moved out of the way, but not fast enough, a streak of red appearing. 

Drawing even that little bit of blood was enough for Skull Bishop. He started to work himself to a more upright position, looking around to see what was going on. 

A cell. One he didn’t recognize, but he’d never spent much time in Haou-sama’s dungeons regardless. It was a bit larger than most, with room enough for five, if they cared little for the comfort of those five. 

Apparently their captor did care little, for his cellmates were Guardian Baou, Chaos Sorcerer, and the Magician twins. Those two stared intently at the door, while Guardian Baou’s attention remained on his wounded hand. Chaos Sorcerer sat cross-legged, his eyes closed, quietly breathing. 

“What happened?” Skull Bishop demanded, pulling himself as upright as he could get. All five of them were manacled, Chaos Sorcerer and Skull Bishop himself with their hands chained behind their back and the other three with theirs in front. He recognized the chains’ effects: so long as they were bound by them, their powers wouldn’t work. No one he knew had the strength to break these bonds, either. 

“We were invaded,” Guardian Baou replied, lip curled. “I don’t know where Haou-sama is but what I heard was that they took him down first.” 

Skull Bishop snorted. As much as he hated the thought, it made strategic sense. Deprive them of their leader and the strongest warrior they had and the takeover stood a far better chance of sticking. 

“Who was it?” 

“Belial – Marquis of Darkness.” Chaos Sorcerer answered, not opening his eyes. “Can’t you feel it?” 

Skull Bishop raised his head, paying brief attention to the world outside of his skin. It wasn’t a skill he practiced often, but he knew how it was done. It took only a few breaths to understand what the other meant. 

Under normal circumstances, the atmosphere of Dark World breathed more or less easy. This was a world where only the strong survived and the weak perished. That was the way it had always been. Haou’s rule only strengthened the darkness here. Skull Bishop didn’t know why; so far as he knew, no one did. They only embraced it. 

But now, a difference hung in the air. Something strange, something tense and taut and at the same time _soft_. 

No. Not soft. Alluring. 

Seductive. 

As befit the demon of lust. 

Skull Bishop shuddered. He’d never been interested in 

intimate matters; battle and conquest alone were his choices. To feel that now… he wanted nothing more than to get rid of it. 

“How do we kill him?” Preferably with Haou-sama and Super Fusion near them. As much as Belial revolted him, a soul that strong would give Super Fusion a huge boost. 

Guardian Baou snorted. “Do you really think that we can, without Haou-sama?” 

“Then we find him!” Skull Bishop snapped. “There is a way to get out of here and set things right.” 

“What is it, then?” Baou countered. “I want Haou-sama back on his throne as much as you do, but _how_?” 

Skull Bishop stared at the cell door. He could hear vague noises beyond it, but nothing more. It wasn’t enough to presume that they were being approached. Guards of some kind. 

He didn’t have an answer to Baou’s question. But he wanted it at least as much as Baou did: for their own self-preservation if nothing else. Their loyalty to Haou-sama hadn’t changed. That alone meant in a new regime, they would be sentenced to death, or worse. 

And with Belial – Marquis of Darkness around, he didn’t want to imagine what could be worse. 

* * *

Belial lounged back in his new throne. He’d made a point of gathering the softest cushions that he could find and made a nest out of them, one large enough for him to spread his wings and get comfortable. 

Music hummed from the singers in the corner and the scent of deliciously prepared meals floated through the air. He’d brought his own chefs with him once he’d made certain to clear out all of Yuuki Juudai’s servants. 

He didn’t really intend to stay here all that long. His own castle would be far more comfortable and was already three times the size of this place. But here he would stay until he’d disposed of all the remnants of Yuuki’s brief reign. 

There were other tasks that he needed to accomplish as well. Disposing of the brat’s mortal servants wouldn’t be much more than entertainment. Taking care of the brat himself… that would be far more difficult. 

That ran a risk that he didn’t want to run, all things considered. 

_The Herald of the Gentle Darkness._

Belial, in all honesty, couldn’t believe that the being who held that power was currently incarnated as a teenage human. He would have been far more inclined to believe that Haou incarnated as something with genuine power, not this foolish soft vessel. 

But regardless of how soft and useless the incarnated vessel was, he would have to handle it with care. The guardian existed _somewhere_ in the cosmos. He didn’t know where, but they couldn’t be all that far from where the herald was. 

_They should be together. They always have been, or so the stories say._ He mused on that for a few moments. Slaying the herald outright would – sadly – do little and might do worse. He would incarnate again. Or worse, he would not bother with another incarnation and would simply manifest to deal out vengeance. 

But what he had in mind so far would do _just fine_. 

Belial leaned back, wings spread and a glass of the finest wine available in one hand. He took a long sip, watching as some of his favorite dancers spun for his entertainment. 

He had death and destruction to deal out later, but until then, this was a time of celebration. 

* * *

Flame Snake stirred, lifting his head. A cold wind blew, urging him to get back inside, to find a warm place to rest and stay there for as long as he could. He’d started to wriggle in, wondering why he was even out there in the first place, when memory crashed in on him. 

The invasion. The castle falling. Haou-sama captured somewhere. Anyone who wasn’t dead was captured. The only one he knew had escaped one of those fates was… himself. 

Carefully he wiggled inside, keeping himself away from the biting cold. He needed to get something to eat, but with the chaos the castle was in – at least for him, he knew all of the usual servants he could cadge food off of wouldn’t be there – he would have to find another way to get a meal. 

For the moment, he found a small crevice he could fit himself into that would do for warmth. His stomach growled but he told it to remain quiet and not give him away. He needed to think, and if he were to be honest with himself, he knew he wasn’t very good at that. 

_I should find Skull Bishop-sama._ He knew his master ranked among those captured. He’d seen him being taken away, unconscious and in power-nullifying chains. But he didn’t know _where_ he was. He’d fled away before he could be seen and captured himself. 

A soft noise caught his attention. Flame Snake raised his head, eye turning in all directions. Was that one of the Marquis’s servants, seeking out stragglers? Or another straggler, someone like him who had been able to flee the devastation? 

There couldn’t be many of those. Not with the searching that Belial’s servants did. They’d gone to such trouble to clear through every room and wreck it to the point that no one could hide there. 

Another noise, a bit quieter than the first, but now Flame Snake knew for certain that he’d heard it. He raised himself up and hissed in his very best threatening manner. 

“Who’s there?” He bared his fangs as he spoke. He couldn’t do all that much damage, but he would at least try. Perhaps biting whoever it was would give him time enough to flee afterward. 

Something else moved in the shadows of the ceiling. Flame Snake peered closer, the tip of his tail shaking, even as he tried to figure out which way would be the best to flee by. 

Then he saw it: brown skin, tiny wings, and holding a spear tightly. Flame Snake relaxed. 

“Dark Familiar,” he murmured. He’d seen the little pest before. Dark Familiar served the same purpose that he did, spying and bringing information back to his master. The difference between them was that Flame Snake served Skull Bishop while Dark Familiar served Guardian Baou. 

That didn’t mean in any way that he _liked_ Dark Familiar. But at least this wasn’t an enemy. 

Dark Familiar settled down in front of him, tip of his spear raised up. He wasn’t being violent, at least not right now. 

“Where is master?” He hissed. There weren’t many who heard him speak, but now wasn’t a time for silence. 

Flame Snake ducked his head down, tucking his tail in closer to himself. “I don’t know. Your master and mine were both taken captive.” He tilted his head ever so slightly. “Where have you been?” 

“Out. Searching.” 

Oh. That made sense, when someone’s abilities included them being able to fly. Flame Snake tightened into curls. 

“We were invaded by Belial, the Marquis of Darkness,” he said, quickly filling in the other on all the gory details. Then he raised his head, a sudden spark of hope filling him. “If we can free our masters, then they can find Haou-sama, and he can finish this!” Haou-sama’s powers were without measure. If he were free, then he would end all of this! 

Dark Familiar fingered his spear, not saying anything. Flame Snake continued, eager to persuade his only ally. 

“They have to be around here somewhere. They would be so pleased with us if we set them free.” 

Slowly Dark Familiar nodded, a quick sly smile making its way over his features. Then he turned to look behind him, then back. 

“Not alone,” he said in that soft voice of his. “Found someone else.” 

Someone else? Flame Snake wondered who else had made it through with their freedom intact. 

At first he thought that somehow, a small cloud had drifted into the castle. That wasn’t a usual thing. But then the cloud opened its eyes and stared down at him and he recognized who this ways. 

“Violent Rain?” He knew the cloud’s given name, of course, but it wasn’t something he would speak without permission. 

The cloud rumbled at him, then turned to look behind. A second cloud ghosted up, small lightning bolts flickering in its gray mass. This was Violent Rain’s cousin, La Li-Oon. 

And like Dark Familiar and Flame Snake, Violent Rain and La Li-Oon served two of the Death Duelists: Skilled White Magician and Skilled Dark Magician. 

Flame Snake pulled himself out of his curl and then tucked himself back in, a sudden thrill coursing through him. Could it be? Really, could it be? 

“Where is...” 

“Me?” 

The voice was soft and almost unheard, too quiet to be more than the soft whisper on the wind. Flame Snake jerked his head around trying to find out where it came from, but saw nothing else. 

Not until a hand came to rest on the back of his head, followed a breath later by the click of a cane on the cold stone floor. 

He twined around to see the phantom standing there, taking a step back even as Flame Snake turned. He didn’t touch often, nor did he speak often. But he did look concerned. 

The five of them stared at one another. Each of them held the same position as spy and information gatherer for one of the Death Duelists. If _anyone_ could have escaped, Flame Snake wasn’t surprised that they had. The twin clouds could just hide up in the skies, while he and Dark Familiar were too small and quick to be seen by most people. As for the phantom… 

Well, even in this world of monsters, magic, and spirits, not everyone could see a ghost when the ghost didn’t want them to. 

It wasn’t much of a rescue party, especially one to go up against the likes of the Marquis of Darkness, but Flame Snake didn’t think they were going to do any better. 

* * *

Yubel passed through the marketplace, listening to rumors and keeping their head tucked down. That wasn’t such a strange sight; there were plenty of people in this world who would prefer their faces not to be seen. 

But Yubel had their own reasons for that, and if anyone _had_ seen them, then they would ensure no tales spread. It wasn’t time yet. Their beloved hadn’t _learned_ enough yet. 

But until that time, there were matters that Yubel needed to take care of. Not always ones that they _liked_ , but when dealing with a thief and the love of one’s life, certain sacrifices had to be made. 

So for now, when Yubel would far more prefer to have Johan Andersen’s guts hanging from the most convenient hook, they searched for suitable food instead. 

They were using his body, after all. Food was an annoying requirement. 

Yubel could feel his presence, fully aware in the back of their currently shared mind. He’d ceased shouting and demanding to be freed some time ago. He wanted it still; Yubel could sense that. But making all that fuss did nothing at all. 

They turned their attention to the food stalls, examining them carefully. This body wasn’t their own, but they intended to take good care of it for now. Strength would be needed until the time came to face their beloved Juudai once again. 

**Yubel.**

Yubel turned a mental frown toward Johan. What could he want? If he intended to start up that fuss again, then they would just go on and put him out of the body until waiting for a later point. 

**That’s not it. Listen. Over there.**

He sounded worried. Yubel cared little for human concerns, especially humans who weren’t Juudai, but if it worried him enough to talk to them, then they could spare a few seconds. 

They turned their attention the way he indicated, seeing a couple of folk chatting in front of a different food stall. Yubel quietly wandered that way, more interest caught when they heard _Haou_ being mentioned. 

Whatever _was_ their beloved up to now? 

“They’re all supposed to be put into combat eventually,” one of them said, all of his focus on his companion. Yubel disapproved of that; one should always keep an eye on one’s surroundings. “Except him, of course.” 

“Of course.” The stranger’s companion nodded, eyes flicking around worriedly. Yubel examined the food offerings, doing a marvelous job of pretending not to pay attention. “But what are they going to do with him?” 

“I guess kill him, sooner or later.” The first gave a careless shrug. “If they haven’t already. The guy I talked to was a little vague on what actually happened.” 

With every word a slow rage ignited and bubbled up within Yubel. Those words were few indeed, but they could gather the gist easily enough. But Yubel wanted more than gist. 

Keeping themselves under a tight wrap of control – which wasn’t easy but needed to be done – they turned toward the two gossipers as if this were only of mild concern. 

“What is it you’re talking about?” 

Yubel could feel Johan’s tension in the back of the mind as well. Regardless of their disagreements – of Yubel naming him as the thief that he was – they had to admit that he cared about Juudai too. Not as much as _they_ did, of course, but they wanted no harm to come to him. 

How foolish that was would be an argument for another time. 

“Didn’t you hear?” The first one asked. He was a spellcaster of some sort. Yubel didn’t recognize him immediately, nor cared to. “The Marquis of Darkness overthrew Haou during the dark of the comet. He’s the new ruler of this world.” 

Yubel ground their teeth together before hiding it behind a false smile. “Is that so? I didn’t think Haou-sama was so weak.” Because he wasn’t. Not in the slightest. Something wasn’t right here. 

The second one nodded. “Neither did I. I mean, I’ve never met him, but he’s the same one who took down Brron-sama, isn’t he? That’s pretty strong. How did it happen?” 

“I wasn’t exactly part of it, you know,” the first one said, snorting. “But ever since, people from the Marquis’ army have been going out and about spreading the news.” 

Yubel very seldom could hear Johan cursing, at least not at them. But now words that they’d never heard before hissed between teeth that he didn’t have possession of at the moment. Yubel had to agree. 

“Are they at his castle still?” Yubel wanted to know, fighting to keep themselves under control when what they really wanted to do was tear everything around them into shreds. 

Juudai could not be gone. They would _know_ if he were gone. 

Which meant that he lived still, likely a captive, in some condition where he could not fight back. 

Yubel needed to know more. _Much_ more. 

“I think so. Probably going to be there a while.” The spellcaster shrugged before turning to stare at the food on display again. “Can’t say it makes much of a difference to me. As long as they don’t kill me, what do I care who runs things?” 

Yubel memorized his features. They would make certain that he fell during Haou’s restored reign. 

But in order to restore that reign, a great deal of work needed to be done. 

**You’ll need my help.**

No, they wouldn’t. This was something that Yubel could do without them. 

**You’re being stubborn.**

Yubel mentally snorted as they picked out their own food choices, exchanged a few innocuous words, and then departed. The marketplace slowly began to buzz with the news of the coup, but no one knew anything else. This wasn’t a place Yubel needed to be right now. 

They needed to be with their beloved Juudai, celebrating the death of the foolish demon who thought they could defeat Haou. 

* * *

Jim offered the sausage to Karen, who snapped it up quickly. While she was busy with that, he took a couple of bites of his own dinner. On the other side of the fire sat O’Brien, plowing his way through his sandwich. 

Getting food in Dark World wasn’t easy. Most of it was made and sold like on Earth, but finding the money to pay for it or something to barter for it wasn’t the easiest. This time they’d been lucky. They could never be certain next time would be the same. 

“Did you hear anything?” Jim asked, reaching for another sausage. Trading two spare cards had given them what could be enough for tonight and at least two or three days ahead. Beyond that they couldn’t yet plan. Too much traveling to do. 

And the rumors that _he’d_ heard made planning ahead something to be wary of. 

O’Brien set his dinner aside long enough to take his cup of water, turning the question over in his mind. 

“There’s been a coup.” They’d both heard of the rising warlord Haou, though exactly who he was – he apparently wore armor that concealed his features on a regular basis – no one knew. But now someone else made a move against him. 

Jim nodded. “Belial, the Marquis of Darkness.” He’d owned the card once, when he was twelve, having found it in a booster pack. He’d given it to a friend. But he had no idea of what a genuine Belial would be like, as opposed to a simple card. 

“But nothing about Juudai.” O’Brien pointed out. The two of them weren’t all that interested in the politics of this world, except as how it related to finding out where their friend was. 

“Nothing.” Jim finished the last of his food and gave Karen her last sausage for the meal. “Should we try and talk to him? See if he’s seen Juudai?” 

O’Brien took small sips of his water. Neither of them fully trusted any liquids that were for sale around this place. Finding clean water meant stocking up as much as they could. It also gave a splendid excuse to think about the answer to a question. 

“We should,” he said at last. “But carefully.” 

Jim nodded; what little they’d heard of Belial made it plain he was at least as ruthless as Brron had been or what Haou tried to be. They would have to watch their words. 

But it was likely the only chance they had to find Juudai. That didn’t mean Jim liked it. Just the thought of entering a place ruled by a creature patterned after a high ranking demon prince sent chills down his spine. 

_It would be better if we had more allies._ But no one had seen Shou since he’d fled Brron’s castle, all of their other friends were dead, and Juudai had vanished quite nearly as thoroughly as Shou had. The last time Jim had seen him, he hadn’t even looked in any condition to defend himself. 

Jim didn’t want to find out that somehow, Juudai had died in this world. But the longer they went on without finding him, the more likely such a fate became. He’d been shattered by whatever it was that happened in Brron’s arena. If Johan really was dead – and Jim wasn’t ready to believe it just because Brron said so – then Juudai might never recover. 

Talking to Belial might put them at more risk, but Jim couldn’t see any other way to go right now. They had to do _something_. 

“There’s a village to the west,” O’Brien said after a few more silent moments between them. “We should get some more information there.” 

Jim nodded; he’d heard about that one when they’d been bartering for food. Rumor had it that it had been a center of growing resistance against Haou’s regime. What it would be now was anyone’s guess. 

Karen curled up against Jim’s legs, rumbling deep in her throat. She’d heard or seen or smelt nothing that would disturb her, which told Jim that it would be safe to rest here, at least for now. 

He didn’t know how long they’d been in this world or how long it would take them to find Shou and Juudai and figure out what to do from there. Finding out the truth about Johan seemed the most likely option, but how to do that eluded him. The only ones who knew for certain would be those who’d served Brron and he didn’t know where they were now, nor if their word could be trusted. 

There would always be too much that they didn’t know, it seemed. And until they figured out how to address that, there was very little that they could do in the first place. 

Jim set his cup aside and rested one hand on Karen’s head for a few moments. His Eye had told him little since Brron’s arena. He would have to go on his heart. That hadn’t guided him wrong either. 

“Get some rest,” he advised O'Brien. “I’ll take the first watch.” 

It was the least he could do. O’Brien had insisted on taking the first one for several days in a row. Jim turned his attention back to the fire flickering between the two of them. Nights here – or whatever to call it when the comet’s light guttered – could get very cold. 

He hoped Shou and Juudai were warm and fed, wherever they were. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Yes, Shou will appear later. He isn’t the only one, either. I have Plans. Also, just a reminder, I will update this fic every day for WIP Week, until it’s finished.


	3. Chapter 3

**Word Count:** 12,283/32,589|| **Chapters:** 3/8

* * *

For a time – none of them could have said how long – the five of them simply sat there. Or floated, in the case of the two clouds. None of them had any idea of what to say. 

It was the thief who broke the silence at long last. 

“I’ll find where our masters are.” He glanced briefly toward the others. “Violent Rain, La Li-Oon, find Haou-sama.” 

Flame Snake wasn’t going to argue about the ghost thief taking charge. If anyone knew what to do, he knew that he didn’t. So let someone who did manage matters. He twitched the end of his tail. 

“What should I do? And Dark Familiar?” He added the second question quickly. 

The thief tilted his head, tapping his cane in thought. “Search for further assistance,” he said at last. “There are still duelists in this world who haven’t been captured by Haou-sama’s forces or by Belial’s. Offer them leniency on Haou-sama’s behalf: if they assist in putting him back on his throne, then he may find them useful enough not to kill when the time comes.” 

_Would that be a good enough bribe?_ Flame Snake couldn’t say if anyone else would be persuaded by that. But he had few other ideas himself. 

Violet Rain rumbled, tiny lightning bolts sparking out underneath it. Flame Snake didn’t speak cloud, but La Li-Oon didn’t look as if what was said was all that good. 

Granted, the clouds didn’t look happy regardless. La Li-Oon thundered back, and Violent Rain shot a small bolt that hit the nearby wall, shattering a few shards of rock off. 

The thief slammed his cane down on the ground, eyes darkening. 

“Do not argue. Your options are aid in restoring Haou-sama or death when the Marquis’s servants catch you. Do not think that they won’t.” 

Flame Snake tightened his coils, shifting back and forth before he ventured to ask, “What were they saying?” He’d never even known the thief could speak the language of clouds. 

“Nothing that you need to worry about.” The ghost thief shook his head dismissively. “Go.” 

He stood up, his cloak folding around himself, and then wasn’t there anymore. Flame Snake’s tongue flickered, tasting the air. He could still smell the remnants of the ghost – a specter of a scent, one might say – but he found himself certain that there wasn’t any trace of the ghost there currently. 

Dark Familiar grumbled but headed for the nearest exit, the one Flame Snake had entered by before he’d fallen asleep. The two clouds poured out as well, drifting off without another word. At least not a word that he understood. 

Flame Snake peered down, then glanced up at Dark Familiar. “I’ll go that way,” he said at last, jerking his tail to the left. “You go that way?” He chose the right for Dark Familiar, who only shrugged and fluttered off without another word. 

The one-eyed snake drew an unsteady breath, then slithered his way down. Getting out of the castle without being seen by any of the Marquis’s servants would not be that difficult. Finding someone who could and would help overthrow him: now that would be hard. 

* * *

Violent Rain rumbled, lightning sparking as it floated along. It took the chance to rain on some of Belial’s servants at the same time, tossing a lightning bolt downward. None of them were so weak to fall to it, but it made the cloud feel much better to do so. 

Its cousin growled at that, before taking aim itself at another of the servants. Its power wasn’t any greater than Violent Rain, certainly not enough to do more damage. 

They did what they could as they floated along through the sky, impersonating innocent clouds. Searching from that high up afforded them an excellent view of the area. It also gave them the chance to do something they both enjoyed. 

Violent Rain lived up to its name. Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed, and it unleashed as much rain as it could conjure. 

The lightning sparked and the thunder rumbled in a way that few who weren’t weather-related beings could have understood. But La Li-Oon knew what its cousin wished to say. 

Crafted into human words, it would have likely been something akin to this. 

**I’ll rain them out! Every last one of them!**

La Li-Oon rumbled back, a flicker of lightning for punctuation. 

**They can guard against us. Don’t overestimate yourself.**

Violent Rain flashed again, rage rumbling now. It threw a blast of lightning at one of the towers. Haou-sama would probably have disapproved, but he wasn’t there now, and Violent Rain wasn’t ruling out that tossing around thunder, lightning, and the best rainstorm that it could manage might reveal his location. 

That was what they’d been assigned to find out anyway, wasn’t it? Where Haou-sama was. 

Violent Rain didn’t know how they were to do that other than raining out everything. That was what they were best at. That, and finding out things that people liked to talk about when they were hiding from the rain. 

La Li-Oon dropped some rain on a few more of the Marquis’ servants. Violent Rain approved of that, but there still wasn’t any sign of Haou-sama. No one they rained on seemed eager to talk about him, either. 

That just made Violent Rain even angrier. It had gone out of its way multiple times to find out what it could and no one was co operating! 

Another lash of lightning, this one shattering a tower. Violet Rain rained a little smugly at that and considered generating a little hail at the same time. 

It wasn’t often that it _could_ conjure hail, but given the situation, it might be worth the effort. 

A few of the Marquis’s servants gathered near where the broken tower lifted up against the sky, staring at it and muttering among themselves. Violent Rain drifted over to nudge at its cousin. 

**I bet you can’t hit them.**

**Of course I can. But I won’t**

If Violent Rain possessed a nose, then it might very well have sniffed. **And why not? We could destroy some of them right now.**

If La Li-Oon possessed lungs, it might have sighed. As it was, it blew out a blast of chilly wind regardless. **Because it would get us noticed. We want information, not random destruction.**

**Spoilsport.** Violent Rain started to drift away, before a shape caught its attention. It was at another tower, one that it didn’t think had been occupied before the invasion. 

At least Violent Rain didn’t _think_ it had been. It hadn’t exactly floated around inside to find out. But that shape wasn’t a familiar one and it all but oozed power of a kind that made it want to flee as fast as possible. 

That shape could only belong to Belial – Marquis of Darkness. 

* * *

His eyes flicked from the ruined tower and those gathered around it to the clouds floating in the dark sky. Belial bared his teeth in something that others might have considered a smile. 

_Violent Rain. La Li-Oon. How **amusing**._

It would have taken little effort to dispose of both of them. Belial didn’t bother. Whatever they were doing, they were of no threat to him. 

He did want to make certain of other points, though. His servants would deal with the ruins caused by the lightning. His duties lay elsewhere. 

He turned and started down the nearest flight of stairs. He could hear the strike of lightning and the roll of thunder, but paid only minimal attention. He could say this much about this castle, it had been built to withstand the elements. 

At least most of them. There were spaces with wide enough windows that the two clouds would likely be able to rain to their hearts’ content inside. 

But not where he was going. 

The farther down that he went, the less he could hear from outside, and the fewer guards were present. They weren’t needed. The spells he’d crafted were the only defenses necessary. 

Those spells he could and did pass through as if they weren’t there. The shields knew their master. 

At last, he stood before a broad, iron-banded door. Down here, after many stairs and much distance, silence hung in the air. Energies of many kinds buzzed there as well, the sort of energy that came from binding spells in the air. 

Belial rested one hand on the door, which had no locks or bindings on it. It swung open at his touch, revealing a simple chamber beyond. As he crossed the threshold, the door closed behind him, sealing itself automatically. 

A beam of shimmering light arced downward from the room’s ceiling, encircling the only inhabitant. Belial prowled closer, enjoying the sight. There weren’t many who could do what he’d done. 

In the center of the light stood a boy. He stood not far from the cusp of adulthood, but still a boy regardless. Golden eyes glared, tracking every one of Belial’s movements as the demon circled him. 

Haou, Yuuki Juudai, did not speak. He stood where he was, bereft of his armor and his armies, but refused to bow his head. Belial could not help but approve. 

“Are you enjoying your new accommodations?” Belial asked, sweeping closer. He could risk much; the Darkness’s power would be channeled through the boy’s mortal flesh, which meant it was confined by that flesh. Flesh that Belial confined. 

Haou’s hands swept into fists and Belial could taste the rage in the air even without words. 

“I’ll take that as a no. My apologies. I would provide you with something better, but that would require someone else knowing where you are, and I won’t have that.” 

Haou said nothing else still. His eyes flashed brighter with his rage however, and Belial smiled even more. 

“You’ll not honor me with your voice, Yuuki Juudai?” His smile thinned for a moment. “Yes, I know your name.” He hadn’t bothered to visit his captive before. He would have to do better. 

Harsh words ground out, torn from a teenager’s throat. “Who are you?” 

Oh, what a shame. Belial swept by again, letting the tips of his wings brush against the former warlord. 

“I didn’t introduce myself? What a shame.” He came to a stop in front of Haou and stared at him. “I feel quite insulted that you don’t recognize me, however. I believe you come from a world where dueling is but a game. Have you not seen my _card_?” 

Belial almost spat the word out. The idea of being a card would never sit well with him. It wasn’t meant to be that way. 

He would find a way to change that. One day. One day _very soon_. 

Haou’s gaze didn’t shift away from him. There was the fainest of frowns between his eyes, though. Belial waited, despite how much he disliked doing so. 

There would be fear. There would be dread. Rising anger, perhaps, to smother both fear and dread. 

Then the boy shook his head. A small movement, but clear enough to Belial: too clear. 

“You have never seen it? You know nothing of me?” 

_If I must be a card, then at least it should be a card that sparks fear!_

Belial kept the words sealed behind his lips as he took another step closer. Haou could not reach out, but he could reach into the light, and now he did so, hand closing around the child’s throat. His nails sank in, extending out into claws, and he wanted to remember that killing the vessel wasn’t a good idea and he wanted to see blood spill… 

Yuuki’s hand rested on his wrist and jerked his hand away, taking a step back. Belial stared at him, hunger in his eyes, and licked his lips. 

“You’re lucky that my plans for you don’t include your death. Not by my hands.” He drew himself up and refocused his thoughts. “I am Belial – Marquis of Darkness.” 

He expected at least a little recognition from that. What he got was just Yuuki staring at him without so much as a change of expression. There were bruises around his neck now: five marks of his anger on the flesh there. Belial focused on those. He would have his vengeance, in due time. 

“Should I know you?” Yuuki said at last, with almost no emotion tracing his words. Belial fought back the surge of rage this time. 

“What you need to know is that all you’ve tried to do has failed. This world belongs to me.” 

Again the mortal’s fingers clenched and his eyes glowed a deeper gold. He could do nothing about his fury, though. Belial crafted his prisons well. 

“Where is Super Fusion?” Yuuki demanded. Of course he would. Belial let himself smile one of his favorite, terrifying smiles. 

“Nothing but embers on the wind now. I have no need of it: nor do you.” 

Yuuki’s eyes blazed even more, and the shadows cast by the blazing light writhed. Belial wasn’t certain if his captive even noticed, but he did. He would have to watch his words. 

“You will die.” Yuuki promised, rage shot through every syllable. Belial turned away, smile still strong on his lips. 

“I think not.” 

* * *

Shou slumped along, not paying as much attention to the world around him as he likely should have. It had been like that ever since he’d left Brron’s arena. Nothing around him seemed worth paying attention to. 

_I want to go home._

Only he didn’t know if home even existed any more. Home had always been Duel Academia. Maybe not sharing a room with Juudai – he hadn’t properly done that in a while anyway – but knowing that Juudai was there, was ready to laugh, to share a duel, to help when he needed it… 

_He isn’t anymore. None of them are there._

O'Brien and Jim might be there, eventually. Maybe. He wasn’t sure about that. But even if they were alive in this world somewhere, that didn’t mean that they would stay at Duel Academia. 

_They’re exchange students,_ Shou reminded himself. _They’ll go home sooner or later._ And probably sooner. They had families, didn’t they? What families would want their kids to stay after vanishing like this? 

His parents probably wouldn’t want him to stay either. He would, but they wouldn’t _want_ him to. 

He could hear soft chitters and whispers from the trees that rose around him. He glanced up enough to check; he was still in the forest that he’d found himself in sometime after fleeing the arena. 

Eyes glittered back from the shadows, some long and green, some tiny and blue, one or two sets an odd shade of gold that sent chills down his spine. None of the owners of the eyes came closer to him. But some of those noises sounded as if they came from near the eyes and Shou wasn’t in a big hurry to find out how closely the sounds and the eyes were related to one another. 

He didn’t pick up his pace, though. He just kept on walking, following the trail as it unfolded ahead of him. He didn’t know where he was going. Or rather, he didn’t know where the path led. 

So he wasn’t expecting it all when the trees thinned out without warning and he found himself on the top of a hill looking down at a small cup of a valley. Under most circumstances it might have been green; it might even have been. But the comet’s blue light shone instead of a bright sun, painting the grass and grounds sapphire instead of emerald. 

Held in the folds of the valley’s cup rested a double handful of buildings, surrounded by a well-built wall of stone. Along various points guards stood. Shou couldn’t really see who they were from here, or what they were. He didn’t know what would be the proper word. 

Shou stirred up enough interest to check the area out and wasn’t certain what to think to see that there was only one exit aside from the path he’d walked in on. That path was guarded just as well as the little village itself was. 

_If they guard that way, then..._ Shou started to turn, fingers of fear walking up his spine. 

Behind him there stood a half-dozen soldiers. They looked pretty human, each one female, and all staring at him. He recognized each one of them, too. His best friend, before Duel Academia, collected Normal Monsters of every kind, and these were all Normal Monsters. 

‘Soldiers’ probably wasn’t the entirely correct word to describe them. He swallowed as his gaze flicked to each one. _Noise Woman._ She was easy to identify with her scythe. Just because it looked like a musical note didn’t mean it couldn’t deal damage. 

Standing next to her was someone who definitely could deal damage and no one who saw her could doubt otherwise: Woman Swordsman Kanan. In Shou’s opinion, she was very pretty, and if he wasn’t true to Black Magician Girl, he might have considered asking her out. 

Assuming she didn’t stab him first. From the way she was looking at him, he wouldn’t have been surprised if she had. 

The third moved almost too much for him to get a good look at her, but that was kind of what helped him to identify her. Dark blue hair and pale green skin and robe, combined with the gusts of wind that blew around her, pinned her as the Spirit of the Winds. The low rumble of thunder when she saw him staring at her sent a chill through him as well. 

The next two he had to think before he recognized; they weren’t cards that he’d seen often outside of his friend’s collection. But then he did: the blue-haired Water Element and her companion Siren, shaded in green. Neither of them seemed interested in him, but he could feel their sharp gaze regardless, so different from the images on the cards. 

But the last of them turned his blood to ice with barely a look from her chilling gaze. Six arms, a cascade of golden hair, and a low laugh that rippled out from her as he looked away, unable to look in her face. 

“Demoness Knight,” he whispered, throat tightening. Part of him wanted to grab for his duel disc and deck to defend himself. But the idea of fighting, the very _thought_ of killing someone else if he won… 

Or dying if he lost… 

Demoness Knight strolled closer to him, looking him up and down, before resting one pair of hands on her hips. 

“And who are you and what are you doing here? You’re not very high level, are you?” 

Shou swallowed, his first instinct being to say he’d been promoted to Obelisk Blue – even if he’d gone back to Yellow – and that was as high as it got in Duel Academia. But her eyes on him froze the words in his throat and all he could do was shake his head. 

Kanan snorted. “Can’t you tell a human when you see one? I know they’re rare, but they _exist_.” 

“I know, I know.” Demoness Knight waved one hand casually. “He looks like he’s about to pass out. I wonder what a human is doing here anyway.” 

Kanan regarded him sternly. “Let’s send him inside and have him questioned.” 

The others nodded as she cast a quick glance toward them, and Demoness Knight nodded her agreement as well. “Who’s on retrieval duty today?” 

“Valkyrie,” Noise Maiden murmured, her voice surprisingly soft. “I can call her.” 

“Do that. Try not to deafen us, though,” Demoness Knight agreed with a quick nod of her head. She looked back at Shou, reaching out to tilt his head up with one of her hands. “You’d better have a good story. Your life depends on it now.” 

* * *

Skull Bishop shifted, uncomfortable. He’d never been chained liked this before and that by itself made him uneasy. He wanted to get out of here. 

But that didn’t look very possible, at least not yet. Not until he could figure a way to break the bonds and open the door, then get past all of the guards and locate Haou-sama. 

_Difficult isn’t impossible._ He’d heard that before. Haou-sama said it. Skull Bishop couldn’t recall a thing that Haou-sama said that was _wrong_. 

This would be difficult to work through, but they could do it. He just had no idea right now of _how_. 

Shadows fell outside: not the shadows of the comet’s silence, though. This was something else altogether. With the shadows came the sound of footsteps, a measured quiet strolling noise. 

“Belial-sama.” Two voices spoke the name, preceded by the banging of metal against metal. 

The Death Duelists exchanged a rapid moment of glances before each and every one of them rose to their feet, despite the difficulty of doing so while chained. Skull Bishop couldn’t have said why they did it, but he knew his reasons. Under no circumstnaces would he encounter the Marquis of Darkness while sitting down. 

He entered the dungeon, standing just out of reach. By most standards he would be considered beautiful, amazing even. His features gleamed with beauty, his robes flawless, the sword at his side a work of art, his wings shimmering waves of shadow. A circlet of shadows – a dark halo, Skull Bishop realized – hovered over his head. 

Belial considered all of them. His lips were curved up into something that Skull Bishop presumed was meant to be a smile, but which did absolutely nothing to convey pleasure. Skull Bishop had seen smiles similar to that before: he had his own kind as well. But this one put all of those to shame. 

Guardian Baou broke the silence. “What is it you want?” 

“I have what I want.” Belial’s voice was liquid honey and shimmering sunshine tinged with a husk of shadows and starlight. “Your mortal lord stood in my path so I removed him. You need not worry further about him. Turn your thoughts instead toward what you will do to please _me_.” 

Skull Bishop lunged forward, head tilted low, intent on piercing the far too pretty demon with his helmet horns. Before he’d taken more than two steps, Belial’s hand rested between his eyes and shoved him backwards into the far wall. The push didn’t look strong from the outside. Looks were _extremely_ deceiving. 

There was a snap. For a moment, Skull Bishop felt nothing at all out of the ordinary. Then, twin sharp spikes of silver shadowed pain lanced its way up his arms and his vision dissolved into sparkles of agony. 

When his eyes cleared, Belial still stood before him, as calm and unruffled as if nothing worth mentioning had happened at all. 

“I intend to kill you all,” he said, voice still as peaceful and sweet as one could wish for. “But you will entertain me with your deaths.” 

Chaos Sorcerer snorted faintly. “I’ve heard words of that sort before: from the Mad King. What makes you think that you can fare any better against our Haou-sama?” 

“Because I already have. As I said, I removed him from my path. As I have also removed you. When the comet brightens tomorrow, choose one of you to stand first in my arena. Should you fail to choose one, I will choose for you.” 

Guardian Baou let out a mocking laugh. “Are you that much of a fool? Do you believe we _care_ which one of us dies first? Or if any of us die at all?” 

“I believe that you’d best do what I say. You have no other choice.” Belial’s gaze shifted to rest on Guardian Baou. “And for your words, I say this. Should you fail to choose one from your ranks, then the one that I choose will be you. Once chosen, you will not return alive.” 

“As I said, I heard that from the Mad King already.” Chaos Sorcerer said. He stared into Belial’s eyes with more calm that Skull Bishop thought he could muster himself at the moment. But at the moment, his arms also shrieked with pain he’d never experienced before. 

Belial shrugged. “Choose.” 

With nothing more than that, he turned and swept away. The five stared after him, and only after the door they couldn’t see slammed shut did Skull Bishop let himself utter even the slightest sound of pain. 

“He broke your arms,” Skilled White Magician said, coming over to inspect them. Healing magic wasn’t his forte, but he knew a little of wounds and injuries. “He barely touched you and he broke them.” 

Skull Bishop fought to maintain calm when what he wanted to do was shriek and howl in pain. He knew that. He’d been there. 

Try as he might, though, he couldn’t seem to focus himself enough to even form words, and the pain he’d fought to master overwhelmed him, sending him down into a spiral of shadows and pain. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** You have no idea of how much fun this is all going to be for me. I have _histories_ in mind for the Death Duelists and other fun things!


	4. Chapter 4

**Word Count:** 16,370/38,274|| **Chapters:** 4/8

* * *

The closer that they drew to the village, the more uneasy O’Brien felt. Like most of the places they’d seen during their time here, this little collection of buildings had a wall surrounding it. It rose up higher than his head, stone upon stone, with one single gate. Along the inside there ran a floor of well-worn wood, with guards of various kinds standing at strategic points. 

From what he could see, it looked like almost any other village in this world, ready to defend itself from whatever attackers might turn up. The gate stood open, but ready to close at a moment’s notice, and more guards stood in position outside of it. 

But he still could not shake the unnerving sensation that something here wasn’t right at all. He cast a quick glance toward Jim, wondering if his partner felt the same way. 

If he did, Jim showed no sign of it at all. He stared down at the village for a few heartbeats before he took the first few steps toward it. O’Brien followed, watching where he put his feet. This hill didn’t feel as if it were the safest to walk down. 

That at least gave him something else to worry about aside from the fact they had practically no idea of where either Juudai or Shou could be, let alone how to get home from here. He tried not to think too much about home. As soon as he got back, he knew he would have to contact his parents. 

But that lay in a future that he couldn’t see. First to find their friends. First to deal with Johan, whether he were alive or dead. 

First to figure out this entire convoluted mess between Haou and the Marquis of Darkness. Politics hadn’t _ever_ been his forte and he didn’t think it was Jim’s either. 

All of that slid a little farther to the back of his mind as they approached the village gate. The closer they got there, the more the guards paid more attention to them. O’Brien checked them out; warrior types, at least as muscular as he was, and armed not only with swords and shields but with duel disks as well. 

One of them stepped forward as the visitors stopped before the gate. 

“What do you want here?” 

Jim glanced at O’Brien, who shrugged and jerked his head. This was all Jim’s doing. He knew when to stay quiet and follow orders. 

“We’re searching for friends of ours,” Jim said, looking back toward the guard. “They’re both duelists and -” 

The guard raised a hand before he could get another word out. “If they’re duelists, then it’s most likely they’ve either been taken by Haou-sama and killed, or will be taken and killed by Belial-sama. Either way, you should just accept their death.” 

Jim’s smile was as thin as a lash. “Neither one of them would die that easily. But we’ve heard of what happened with Haou and Belial. At least some of it. Would that put our friends at risk?” 

There wasn’t an answer for a few moments and when it came, it was from one of the other guards there. 

“Absolutely. Belial isn’t any more likely to spare someone than Haou or Brron or any of the others would have.” The guard tossed her head. “The only way that you get in charge in this world is to be willing to kill other people. Most of the time, that’s the only way to _live_ in this world.” 

O’Brien gave her a careful look. “Do you come from this world?” 

“No. I came from another.” Her grip on her spear tightened, even as the first guard turned an extremely stern look on her. “You’re not from here either, are you?” 

Jim shook his head. “We came looking for another friend of ours, but we ran into Brron and...” He trailed off; he didn’t want to think of that disaster any more than O’Brien did. 

The woman guard nodded, flickers of sympathy in her eyes. “Brron happened to a lot of people. I don’t think there were many who _didn’t_ rejoice when Haou killed him.” 

The quickest of looks passed between Jim and O’Brien. They’d seen how Brron met his end, with victory in Juudai’s hands. 

“Haou killed Brron?” O’Brien asked carefully. Stories could be spun without evidence, of course. That was probably what happened here. 

They’d heard a few brief tales of Haou and his reign, but that he might be human? That he might be _Juudai_? 

That one had never occurred to either of them. 

Unaware of whatever thoughts flickered through both their minds, she nodded. “I wasn’t there, but we had a tale spinner pass through not that long ago. Apparently he _was_ there.” 

The lead guard cleared his throat, slamming his spear on the ground. “If you’re going to gossip, then don’t do it on duty.” 

She shrugged, tucking her own weapon underneath her arm. “Fine with me. My shift’s over with anyway.” She gestured to Jim and O’Brien. “I’ll buy you a drink and tell you what I’ve heard. If you want to hear it?” 

The look between them was quick and to the point, with brief mutual nods. They might have seen what happened, but hearing what people were telling would probably help. 

_And it might help us find Juudai anyway._ Neither of them could be certain on that, but this was the absolute closest thing to a lead that they’d had since that day at the arena. 

They followed her inside, heading towards one of the buildings. As they walked, she glanced over her shoulder. “I’m Misaki. You two?” Her eyes flicked over to where Karen grumbled. “Excuse me. Three.” 

“Jim Cook,” Jim introduced himself before he gestured to Karen and did the same for her. O’Brien added his name as well and Misaki nodded. 

“I would say welcome, but I doubt you’ll stay long, not if you want a chance to find your friends.” She glanced back to the guards, the lead of which still stared after them. “Don’t worry about him. He’s upset because his brother fell against some of Haou’s forces last week and with Haou gone now, he won’t have the chance to avenge him.” 

Her shrug was eloquent and quick. “What do you want to drink?” 

* * *

He wanted out of this place. More than anything that he could remember, he wanted to get out of this prison and shatter everyone who stood against him. 

_He destroyed Super Fusion._ The words echoed over and over. He couldn’t fully understand the concept. He wanted to, if only to be able to lash out and destroy something. But it didn’t feel right. It couldn’t be right. 

He’d done so much already and it had been so little time. More than that, the only surviving remnants of _them_ were – had been – in that card. 

And if it was gone, then they were gone. Forever. 

_I will end you, Belial._ Haou ground his teeth until he could taste blood on his tongue. 

He couldn’t get out of this beam of light. It tasted of destruction and devastation, harshness that rested against his skin as if cursing it. Any time that he even tried to shift so much as a finger outside of it, he froze until he pulled himself back into it. 

Something wasn’t right about all of this. It wasn’t magic. Haou couldn’t name why he knew that. But he’d tasted magic before, and this wasn’t it. It was something else altogether. 

His fingers flexed slowly. He could feel the wrongness of it all and he could do _nothing_ about it. 

This was the opposite of everything that fueled him. He could use his power to destroy – what the name or source of his power was he still didn’t know – but it wasn’t the power _to_ destroy regardless. 

Again he reached, little more than the slightest shift of himself, and the light poured down even more strongly, keeping him exactly where he was. 

He didn’t know how he’d ended up here or where his armor and deck and duel disk were. All he remembered was going to bed as he normally did after a long day of work. When he’d woken, he’d stood here, bereft of his tools. 

As much as it irked him to think about, he wished he could have just one of his monsters. One of the Evil Heroes would work best, but he would have gladly accepted even the help of Hane Kuriboh. 

_It would help if I had any idea of where he was._ Hane Kuriboh hadn’t appeared since he’d first donned his armor and set out to gather his army. He knew the tiny spirit was around somewhere. He would have known if anything happened to Hane Kuriboh. 

_He’s probably pouting in his card._ He would do that when Haou needed him the most. At least he could have flown around and learned whatever it was that Belial was keeping from him. 

And there were so many things that Haou suspected were being kept from him. The state of his army came to mind right away, along with Belial’s reasons for doing what he did. 

There had to be a reason. He might not know it but it existed all the same. 

He turned his gaze back up to the ceiling, fingers twitching. Something about the light seemed more familiar than it should have. He didn’t want to think about it very hard, for one very simple reason. 

_I’ve known this light before. It’s been inside of me._

Perhaps only a small flicker but there, and it sickened him to think about it. He had very little in his stomach. He’d eaten well the night before, but since waking up here, he hadn’t had a single morsel of food pass his lips. 

Was that of Belial’s doing? It had to be. Would he be fed later or did the demon intend to starve him into submission or worse? 

Exactly what was worse he hadn’t yet made up his mind. But surely worse could exist. One point he’d learned thoroughly already was that it could _always_ get worse. 

He would have paced if there had been room. The beam of light covered only enough space for him to take three steps in any direction and nothing more. That wasn’t enough space for him to do anything. Pacing wouldn’t accomplish anything to getting him out of here but it would have at least given him an outlet for his pent-up energy. 

Haou stared at the light, wanting to extinguish it, to have nothing but shadows fill this place. The only light he could tolerate here would be that of the comet itself. He couldn’t see that here, though. He’d never even known such a room existed in his castle. 

_Am I even in my castle?_ That came under the heading of points that Belial was keeping from him. It almost felt a bit like his castle, but without being able to see more details, he couldn’t be absolutely certain. 

The light continued to wash downward. Haou could see no windows in this room and the only door was the one Belial entered by. He hadn’t seen anything on the other side of it to give him any information at all. 

The whole situation made him ache to get his own hands around Belial’s neck and reduce him down to nothing but dust and ashes. His own neck still ached from when Belial attacked him and if he touched it, he could feel scabs. Belial drew _blood_ from him. 

There would be vengeance for that. There would be vengeance for everything. Haou knew very well what it was like to burn with the desire for blood. He hadn’t killed everyone in this world by dueling them. 

_I won’t give Belial that honor,_ he decided. Belial would die by his hands regardless. He earned that not for attacking Haou or for locking him up. 

No, that came from one thing and one alone: the destruction of Super Fusion. 

* * *

Hane Kuriboh ghosted around, keeping up as high as possible in an attempt to stay out of sight. Juudai’s people hadn’t ever looked up enough to spy him before. Belial’s people were different, watching in almost every direction. 

For a few moments, Hane Kuriboh tucked himself into a high corner, shaking rain off of his fur. Two clouds had been busy raining all over the place earlier and he’d gotten caught in it. 

At least he wasn’t likely to catch a cold. Probably not impossible but not likely, either. 

“And who are you? I don’t believe that you’re one of Belial’s servants.” 

Hane Kuriboh flicked around to stare at the length of cold gray stone behind him. There wasn’t anything to see there at first, then a gray robed being rose out of the stone, long cane in one hand. He stared thoughtfully at Hane Kuriboh, hands folded now over the head of his cane. 

“You are Hane Kuriboh,” he said, voice not much louder than a whisper. Whether it was by choice or to keep Belial’s people from hearing them, Hane Kuriboh couldn’t guess. 

He nodded, though. He saw no reason to deny who he was. He’d seen this ghost around before, though their paths hadn’t ever crossed. Hane Kuriboh hadn’t gone out of his way to cross paths with any of those who lived in Juudai’s castle. Those who weren’t demons still weren’t the sort of person that he wanted to associate with and that hadn’t changed recently. 

This was a ghost who served one of those Death Duelists. What he was doing here wasn’t something that Hane Kuriboh guessed at, however. 

“You are in Haou-sama’s deck.” The ghost thief might have smiled, but his lips weren’t really visible. “I have seen his cards. Tell me, why are you out and about?” He leaned forward, eyes glittering beneath his top hat. “And what do you know about what’s been going on?” 

Hane Kuriboh fluttered, not at all certain if he wanted to give this one any information. But the thief stared at him and the longer he stared, the more comfortable Hane Kuriboh became with telling him the little that he knew. 

He knew that Belial the Marquis of Darkness had somehow taken Haou away. He didn’t know _where_ Juudai was, but he wanted to know. If he could follow Belial without being detected, perhaps he could find out. 

He also knew that the Death Duelists remained locked up somewhere in the dungeons. He didn’t know where they were either. He’d thought about going out to try to find Shou or O’Brien or Jim. Surely they would lend a hand. 

The thief repeated the names thoughtfully. “Those are the ones who knew Haou-sama before he took on Brron-sama, aren’t they?” 

Hane Kuriboh bobbed quickly. Their friends, Juudai’s friends, even with all the tension between them. That couldn’t last forever. It wasn’t the first time by any means that Shou and Juudai fought! It was the most serious but they would work through it. He believed in them. 

At least they would once Juudai understood that what he was doing wasn’t the right thing _to_ do. 

The thief remained unaware of Hane Kuriboh’s thoughts. Instead, he regarded Hane Kuriboh carefully. 

“Go and find my master and his companions. Return and tell me where they’re at.” A hint of a smile again. “You could do it so much better than I can. If they see me, I’m known to serve Chaos Sorcerer-sama. But you wouldn’t be known to them at all.” 

That was true enough. Hane Kuriboh kept himself to himself and perhaps only Juudai even knew there was a chance that he would be around there. He had to admit that he was surprised the ghost even recognized him. 

He puffed a little, fluttering his wings, and darted away, spinning to focus himself. He went downward; that much he knew, and he kept himself wary of being found. Sticking to the top of the room helped with that, as he’d already learned. 

Room by room he dropped, scooting down stairs and wafting through corridors, until all the rooms were left behind and he found himself in a series of rooms designed to hold people of all kinds. Several of them had guards outside. Hane Kuriboh carefully bounced himself from door to door, unable to get inside all of them, and the ones that he could were empty. 

Then he came to the last two. One of them had guards outside, the one on the other side of the hallway didn’t. But Hane Kuriboh found his attention drawn over there regardless. He wanted to go in and see what he could find and bapped lightly at the door, wanting it to open up. 

The door remained closed. Hane Kuriboh trilled in annoyance before he turned to the other side of the room. One of the guards glared at him; he’d had to float down to try to bang at the doors. 

“Get out of here, vermin,” the guard snapped. “Or if you’re trying to scrounge up food, get to the kitchen.” 

Hane Kuriboh hovered for a few seconds, then bounced eagerly, wafting back and forth, looking as confused as he could manage. If the guard reacted as he thought he would… 

The guard groaned, shaking his head. “The kitchen is two corridors up and three over. And don’t stick around. Belial-sama doesn’t like uninvited guests.” 

Hane Kuriboh trilled again, keeping all of his attention on the guards and nothing on what might possibly lay beyond the door. The second guard waved one hand angrily. 

“Just get out of here!” 

“And while you’re there, tell them that we need our food. And the prisoners need theirs too. Five meals, got that? If you’re going to hang around wanting food, you should earn it!” 

Hane Kuriboh ducked down and darted out of the corridor as fast as he could get his wings to move. He flicked his way up two corridors, trying to figure out which way to go for the ‘three over’ corridors. He wasn’t all that hungry himself but it would keep his cover that much better if no one got upset about the ‘uninvited guest’ not working for his dinner, or not even appearing for his dinner. 

* * *

Shou wasn’t good with heights. Valkyrie had him in a firm grip, arms wrapped around his waist, and she flew closer to the village with every flap of her wings. He kept his eyes closed, trying not to think about being in the air. 

It wasn’t an easy thought not to think. Not with Valkyrie’s wingbeats so near, not with the wind whistling in his ears, not when he couldn’t feel the earth underneath his feet. 

He swallowed a little. “Are we there yet?” 

“Almost,” Valkyrie said. “Are you in that much of a hurry?” 

Shou wasn’t certain of how to answer that. He made a noise but couldn’t have said what kind of noise it was. He wanted it to convey the idea that he didn’t have anything to fear; he’d done nothing wrong and he wanted to … 

In truth, Shou wasn’t even certain of what he wanted to do. Maybe if he talked to whoever it was who was in charge around here he could figure that out as well. 

Then there was earth underneath his feet and Valkyrie tapped him on the shoulder. “You can open your eyes now. We’re here.” 

Shou slowly dragged his eyes open, gaze darting about, gathering himself. They stood outside of what could have been the biggest building in the village. That wasn’t saying a great deal, but there it rose, two stories tall, made out of mud bricks, and with another soldier standing outside of it. 

Like everyone else that he saw there, she was a woman. She wasn’t built on the level that Taniya was, but he still wouldn’t have wanted to take her on in a fight. He didn’t know how many people he would have wanted to try to fight anyway. 

She gestured him inside. “She’s waiting for him.” 

Valkyrie nodded and nudged Shou toward the door. At least it was something like a door; it was the open entrance to the building, with a ragged piece of cloth hanging down to conceal it from the rest of the village. 

Shou got his feet moving, crossing the threshold and looking around to see who might be in there. He saw no one in particular, but the room itself wasn’t much to look at either. He’d seen better ones during the weeks he’d traveled this world. Something that might have been a rug lay across the floor, though ‘rug’ wasn’t the word he would have used for a few lengths of cord twisted haphazardly together. He didn’t see any windows, but there was a lopsided table and a cabinet or two, both with their contents hidden behind battered doors. 

“So this is the stranger?” The voice wasn’t one he recognized, which he definitely was grateful for. 

“Yes, lady. He was found on the road through the forest. He’s human.” Valkyrie spoke from behind him. Shou swept his head around even faster, but he couldn’t find any hint of who she was talking to. 

“So I see.” A ripple of laughter echoed in the words. “Human, what is your name?” 

“Marufuji Shou!” Shou gripped his fists together and took a step forward, his anger overwhelming his confusion. “Who are you? _Where_ are you?” Was this one of the smaller spirits? Someone who he would have to squint to see? 

Another echo of laughter from someone that he couldn’t see. 

“Right in front of you, human. Can’t you see?” 

Shou shook his head. He wasn’t sure of how much that it mattered, but all of the frustration inside of him burst out in a torrent of words. 

“I don’t think I’ve _seen_ anything right in years! I thought my big brother was a respect duelist but he left that path! And then I thought my big bro Juudai wanted to protect everyone and save us all, but he turned out to just care about himself!” His throat closed up and he had to fight to get the rest of the words out. “I thought a lot of things and I was wrong and I _hate Yuuki Juudai_!” 

Absolute silence hung in the air. Then light exploded, light that he couldn’t remember having seen before, and it swept all around him. He hadn’t been too fond of light after what happened the previous year with Saiou and the Society, but this was a different sort of light altogether. 

When his vision cleared a few seconds later, everything around him was changed. The room looked as if the people who decorated Obelisk Blue moonlighted here. The floor was planed smooth, covered in a deep yellow plush rug of with a feathery design, and the walls, now scrubbed clean and with windows that looked out to lovely scenery, were also hung with well-crafted tapestries. 

Standing in front of him stood a beautiful six-winged angel, wearing a golden robe and smiling at him. He swallowed and stared, heart beating faster. He’d seen this one before: Wingweaver. He bobbed his head, thoughts spinning in a thousand directions. 

“Greetings, Marufuji Shou,” Wingweaver said, her voice the same one that had spoken to him before. “Your heart is troubled.” 

He wasn’t going to argue that. It was, after all, the truth. He shrugged for a second, still a little startled by all of this. 

The angel touched his shoulder briefly, fingers warm against him, and smiled. “So you are friend to Haou. That would make you a rare prize for those who seek to dominate his territory.” 

Shou shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “What?” What she’d said didn’t make sense. 

“Ah, you hadn’t heard. I didn’t wish to be the one to break this to you, young one. But your friend, Yuuki Juudai, called himself Haou and gathered an army a handful of days ago, intent on conquest of this world. What his full intentions are we do not know. What we do know is that Belial – Marquis of Darkness has taken him captive and declared that he himself is now the ruler of this world.” 

Shou stared. He didn’t know what he’d heard, only that it was terrifying, and he wanted it all to not be true. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** I said it was going to divert from canon. And I have more coming.


	5. Chapter 5

**Word Count:** 20,596/38,274|| **Chapters:** 5/8

* * *

Skull Bishop opened his eyes and immediately closed them again. His arms ached still, though not quite as much, despite the swelling. He wanted to go back to sleep, or at least call for Holy Elf. Her gifts frequently ensured that those who served Haou-sama remained in good health. 

Then memory once more crashed in on him and he sat up harder, an oath on his lips. 

Chaos Sorcerer sat nearest to him, an amused twist to his lips. Traces of magic hung around him. As soon as he saw Skull Bishop looking at him, the sorcerer nodded. 

“I did what I could. I suspect you won’t be able to fight, or duel, until either Holy Elf deals with you or you survive another few weeks.” 

Skull Bishop suspected that neither of those would be an option for some time. He forced himself into a slightly more comfortable sitting position, checking the area out again. Nothing seemed to have changed. 

Which wasn’t much of a surprise. He couldn’t have been out all that long. 

“Now what?” He muttered, carefully adjusting his shoulders and arms to cause the least pain. He couldn’t quite believe that Belial inflicted such damage with little more than a shove. He’d never crossed paths with someone possessed of such power. 

If Haou-sama could do it, he’d never done so before. 

_What does that mean?_ Skull Bishop wondered, staring at the door. _Is he truly stronger than Haou-sama?_

It wasn’t a pleasant thought. He’d sworn his loyalty to Haou-sama and he had yet to encounter anything to make that change. 

“Now we get served whatever foul food the cooks around here think is good enough but not too good, which may or may not be poisoned, and I plan out how to crush whatever idiot Belial wants to throw up against me in his arena.” Baou said, teeth bared. 

Oh. Yes. Skull Bishop did hope they were allowed to watch this battle. Guardian Baou was, like all of them, a fantastic duelist but seeing him fight in physical battle remained an even better sight. At least by Skull Bishop’s standards. 

Chaos Sorcerer spoke, his lips scarcely moving, voice just enough so they could hear him and no more. “Someone was out there earlier. I could hear the guards speaking. I gather it was an intruder of some sort.” 

The mage twins and Baou didn’t seem that concerned, but it caught Skull Bishop’s attention. He spoke as softly as the sorcerer. 

“Before I was captured, I sent Flame Snake out. He hadn’t returned by then.” It could have been his servant, though in full fairness, he wouldn’t have been surprised to find the little reptile had slithered off somewhere to save his own tail. 

Guardian Baou snorted. “I did the same with Dark Familiar. I expect he’ll turn up sooner or later.” 

The twins exchange a brief glance before murmuring words to the same effect: their cloud servants also had been sent out to gather information during the battle. It wasn’t such a surprise. Their spies often brought in useful information and during that mess, anything could have been useful. 

Chaos Sorcerer smiled. “I expect to see him soon. But whichever it was, it wasn’t any of _ours_.” A curious silence fell between them, filled with one question: how could he be certain of that? “Because the guards would know all of our servants. They would have recognized any of them. But this one they _didn’t_ recognize.” 

Which further led to the fact they might not be getting any help. Not being able to see what was going on out there led to not knowing too much. Skull Bishop breathed in, shifting his shoulders and arms faintly. If they were going to be fed soon, then he wanted to be able to eat. 

He doubted very much that Belial would be courteous enough to wait for him to be back at full strength before sending _him_ out to fight. 

Haou-sama would have. Haou-sama remained cruel and strong and powerful – every quality that Skull Bishop found admirable in a leader – and if someone were to fight for their life or his pleasure, Haou-sama wanted to ensure that they were at their greatest strength. He’d seen it before on their strikes against some of the strongholds that still remained loyal to Brron. 

_Why is Belial doing this in the first place?_ That thought in and of itself disturbed him. He’d heard little of the Marquis of Darkness before this. A few whispers here and there, occasional rumors that perhaps he planned to overthrow Brron. 

Was that it? Was he angry that Haou-sama did what he planned to do? He’d heard of people waging war on others for less than that. He knew of those who’d fought against others for causes as petty as refusing a marriage alliance or even turning down an intimate liaison. 

Given what he knew of Belial, that last wouldn’t have surprised him if it had been involved either. He _was_ a demon of lust, or so the stories said. 

But speculation wasn’t answers, and answers didn’t seem forthcoming just yet. Dinner was far closer, as the doors swung open and servants bearing trays of steaming hot food entered. It had been far too long, in Skull Bishop’s opinion, since he’d eaten, and the food did smell incredibly good. Perhaps even a trifle better than what was served at Haou-sama’s table. 

Each tray was arranged where each of the five of them could get to it. Then the servants stepped out again, all as silent as could be, and the Death Duelists were left to their meal. 

It took Skull Bishop only a handful of heartbeats to realize the problem that both he and Chaos Sorcerer had to deal with: their wrists had been chained behind them. Eating would be next to impossible. 

“You should probably do something about that,” Guardian Baou said, having already picked up his tray and carefully maneuvering each bite into his mouth. Skull Bishop didn’t think he hated him at any point more than now. 

* * *

Belial lounged in his favorite chair, examining the delicacies placed before him. Rare fruits, sliced into fascinating shapes, vegetables steamed and seasoned with exotic tastes from distant shores, fish that would likely never be caught in oceans here also flavored with rare condiments. The centerpiece of the meal sent up enticing aromas that almost made him wish not to eat it only admire it: a roast of a creature so rare that only someone of his caliber could have it on their table and not as a pampered pet. 

To make it even better, his wine cup was filled with one of the rarest vintages available in the world. He seldom drank himself into insensibility, but rumor had it something of this quality could render one into that state with less than a half cup. 

It would be interesting to see what the effects on his current dinner companion would be. He turned to regard the human thoughtfully. 

“Quite glad that you’ve arrived, my dear friend,” he said, raising his cup in a motion that wasn’t quite a salute. The demon refused to truly salute a human, no matter how useful he’d been. 

And this human had been very useful indeed, giving him information that he hadn’t expected on Yuuki Juudai. 

“I expect the information I required for my services soon,” the human replied, getting right to the point. He hadn’t touched a single scrap of the meal before him. Belial gestured to it. 

“Of course. Why would I not maintain our bargain? But eat. You look as if you haven’t bothered to do so in too long.” Belial raised his goblet to his lips and took a careful sip of it. He could see right away why this vintage remained so rare and untouched. It had to be centuries old, perhaps even more. Certainly worth being served on his table. 

The human sampled some of the roast carefully. Clearly he did not put trust in just any food set before him. Belial did not protest this at all. He saw no reason to. Anyone with sense would not trust a demon of his caliber. He didn’t even trust himself at times. 

What was the human’s name again? Oh, yes. “Amon Garam. Would you care to be formally introduced to the former Haou?” He let a smile play across his lips. “I would suggest a duel between the two of you, but as I have no intentions of returning his deck to him, that won’t be possible.” 

In point of truth, he would have destroyed every card in that deck. He most certainly _wanted_ to. 

Amon Garam shrugged, however. “Why not?” His lips flashed a smile almost as cruel as one of Belial’s own. Belial certainly approved of the look. “I can’t stay long, though.” 

“Of course. You need to continue your quest. For Exodia.” 

Amon Garam hadn’t said anything about his quest. Belial didn’t need for him to have said anything. He had his ways. Oh, did he have his ways. 

Such as being able to sense the power of Exodia from three valleys away. That power had been what drew him to the human in the first place. 

Garam didn’t look very pleased to hear that. He said nothing about it but continued to dine, taking small and slow bites. Belial recognized the movements of someone who hadn’t eaten in too long attempting not to stuff himself. 

If it hadn’t been for Garam’s information – mostly concerning Haou’s actual name and the nature of his deck and other points of interest – then it was quite possible that the attack and overthrow would have been delayed. Not quite impossible; Belial had planned for this almost since the first moment he’d heard of what happened to Brron. But delayed, and made a touch more difficult by the fact Haou would have had more of a chance to build up his own forces. 

Belial still remained convinced he would have been able to deal with Haou regardless, but striking earlier made it more certain that he would succeed. That he had succeeded. 

“Tomorrow,” he said at last. “I will take you to see Haou tomorrow. After you are my guest at the arena combat.” He smiled slowly, anticipating that. “Would you care to take part in those? Dueling isn’t necessary. I enjoy a good fight of strength against strength.” He’d seen the muscles on the human. He might not be able to fight against _every_ warrior that Belial knew of, but he could give some of them quite a run for the win. 

Now he leaned forward. “There are those among my servants who feel that giving you Exodia's location isn’t a wise decision for me. I feel you should demonstrate why it is.” 

There were other reasons for his desire to see the human in physical combat as well. He chose not to reveal them all. A wise ruler _never_ revealed everything he desired, let alone why he desired it. 

Garam’s fingers tightened for the barest of breaths on his goblet. His voice held not a single hint of emotion when he answered, but Belial could see the building anger in every line of him regardless. 

“I will.” 

Belial bent his head in acceptance, as well as to hide the pleasure in his eyes. He’d already made plans for the combat, and for those who would take part in it. Those plans could remain mutable until the last moment, of course. He refused to keep any of his plans in absolute stone. Such plans could be used against one. Flexibility made for better options. 

And for more amusing entertainment. 

* * *

Shou’s hand shook on the cup of water. He tried not to let it spill but it splashed over the edge regardless. Mumbling a quick apology, he threw the rest of it down his throat and wished that it was something stronger. He’d never been much for drinking, though he’d had a sip or two the summer previously. His parents had insisted that he should try some when word of his promotion to Obelisk Blue came through. 

He remembered they’d done the same thing for Ryou when he’d won the inter-school duel in his second year. Ryou, of course, refused to get drunk. Shou would have wagered that alcohol would refuse to get him drunk even now. 

A hand touched his shoulder and he looked up into Wingweaver’s eyes. She looked so kind, despite the horrible news that she’d brought. 

But it wasn’t that horrible, was it? It was what he’d thrown at Juudai after Brron: the cold truth that Juudai didn’t care about them, only to make himself better than he was, to truly be a _king_. And now he was. Or had been. Or something. Shou still didn’t, couldn’t, yet wrap his mind around it all. 

He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t even know what to _think_ right now. 

“If you want to stay here, you can. We seldom allow visitors, but I think you could be an exception. You would need to contribute somehow.” Her eyes fell to the duel disk on his wrist, but before she could say what he thought she would, he shook his head quickly. 

“I won’t duel. I won’t kill people.” The idea of doing so – just the _thought_ of doing so – made his stomach churn violently. 

Wingweaver’s eyebrow quirked up for a moment. “Oh? That is the way of this world. Surely you know. Few of us like it, but it’s what must be. To live, someone else must die.” 

“I don’t care. But I won’t kill anyone with my dueling.” Shou closed his eyes, shook his head, then looked at her again. “I duel for respect. And I try to respect my opponents. That means not killing them.” 

The angel considered him for another few seconds before she nodded. “Such dueling isn’t unknown in this world, though there are few indeed who can cling to their mortals in the face of death to come. If you can manage it, then good for you.” 

Shou wasn’t sure if she was trying to tease him or not. He stared at his deck, wondering if he would even be able to duel at all here. If he couldn’t duel, then what could he do at all? 

“There are other tasks to accomplish,” Wingweaver said at last. “But the decision is yours.” 

Shou bit his lip, trying to work it out. The largest part of his mind remained wrapped around the idea that Yuuki Juudai, the one that he’d cared about the most and now thought he hated the most, both led an army in conquering the world and was in danger of his life at the same time. It was both the last thing he had ever expected from Juudai and yet now it was the only thing he could have seen coming. 

He stared down at his hands again. The hands that dueled, that had dueled alongside of his _aniki_ for two years, that reached out to him in perfect trust. 

_You’re the one who’s the Kaiser!_ Juudai’s declaration rang hard in his ears. 

How could he believe that, if he didn’t believe in Juudai anymore? 

Slowly he slid the duel disk off of his wrist and turned it toward Wingweaver. “Would you take care of this for me, please? I don’t know when I’ll need it again.” 

She accepted it quietly. “Let me know when you do. As for what else you can do: I can use an assistant. Someone who can run errands for me around the village. Would you be willing?” 

Shou nodded, his stomach rumbling almost at the same moment. Wingweaver chuckled. 

“You haven’t eaten in a while, have you?” 

Shou could feel his cheeks scorching at that as he nodded. “Sorry.” 

“Don’t be.” Wingweaver gestured to a door tucked away in a corner. “Go that way. It’ll take you to the kitchen. You can get something to eat there. Come back here after you’re done.” 

Shou nodded, getting up. His arm felt a little odd without his duel disk. They didn’t have to wear them constantly at Duel Academia, but after those few days spent in that world of sand, and ever since arriving here, he’d grown more used to the weight than usual. He steeled himself to it. If he put it back on, it wouldn’t be until he went home and didn’t have to worry about killing someone if he won a duel against them. 

The corridor behind the door wound around and around, ending up at last with another door that opened at a brief touch. On the other side stretched a long, wide room filled with people of various types working on cooking more food than he could imagine even with all the staring he could do. 

“So you’re the one that Wingweaver-sama sent?” An elegant woman, wrapped in a glimmering gown of light, stepped forward. It took him a moment to realize what she’d said, then he nodded quickly. She nodded briskly before gesturing him to a table set off to the side. Several other people, some of whom he recognized from purchases of booster packs or from duels he’d had in the past, sat on either side of the table, most of them involved in eating and not paying a great deal of attention to him. 

Shou didn’t object to that at all as he took a plate of food – most of which he didn’t recognize – and settled into an empty space at the table. The few times he’d eaten in the Obelisk dining room got him used to eating by himself. People didn’t _ignore_ him there, but he’d never felt that comfortable trying to talk to any of them, not when his thoughts kept roaming back to Osiris Red and the loud, pleasant company there. 

Here it was more like Blue than anything else. The food was excellent, the drinks tasty, and while the whole kitchen was hot and the air filled with noise from the cooks and helpers as they moved this way and that, it didn’t feel as if they were anywhere as close as the people in Osiris Red had been. 

_Where else would I go, though?_ He might have thought about finding his way to Juudai – to aniki – to Haou’s castle if there hadn’t been all that confusion and chaos with Belial there. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk to his ex-friend or not. But to see what he was doing, to really see it for himself… 

Maybe he’d get a chance later. He wasn’t exactly going to find a way home any time soon. 

* * *

Misaki sat a mug of beer in front of both Jim and O’Brien, with a bowl of water for Karen, and sat back with beer for herself. She took a long, deep swig of it, running one hand through her sweaty hair before she looked at the two of them. 

“This is what the tale-spinner told us. Not how he said it.” She wrinkled her nose. “I’m not a tale-spinner and I can’t talk the way they do. But what he said was that Brron knew the boy who’d become Haou was coming, and set a trap for him. Why this trap was going to work, I don’t know. It involved using people he cared about.” 

She shook her head. “What I’ve heard of him didn’t say that he cares about anyone, but I guess he did about them, because it worked, and he and Brron dueled each other. Brron used the duel to try to create a powerful card: Super Fusion. Not sure what is so super about it, but I’ve heard from a few people that Haou has it still. Or had it, I don’t know which it is anymore.” 

For a few moments she stayed quiet, staring down into her drink before she started again. “Brron tricked the Haou into killing his friends. Linked them to the tools he was using to create Super Fusion and that made sure they would die. The tale-spinner wasn’t clear on how it worked and I don’t understand magic anyway. But that pushed Haou into killing Brron and frankly, if I’d been there, I would have served him for that alone. Brron was a bastard who didn’t deserve an honorable death.” 

After another silent length of time, O'Brien asked the question on his mind and Jim’s. “What happened to Haou after that?” 

“He left. Grabbed something from Brron’s deck – probably Super Fusion – and left. He vanished for maybe two or three cycles of the comet, then he came back to Brron’s fortress. He had a small army with him, maybe thirty or forty warriors, and they leveled the place. Anyone who didn’t swear immediate allegiance to him dueled one of his servants and if they survived, they were allowed to join the army or to run. Most of them picked running.” Again she shook her head. “The ones who ran, they got tracked down sooner or later. Haou wasn’t real big on letting his enemies get away.” 

“And now this with Belial?” Jim wanted to know. 

“We don’t have nearly as much on that. Just that Belial struck in the deepest part of the darkest hour and he seemed to know how to disable Haou. I’ve also been hearing rumors that he’s going to have some arena games to clear out the last survivors of Haou’s people. But that’s not much of a rumor. Belial’s taken other places before and he tends to do that kind of thing.” 

She drained the last of her drink and waved to the bartender for a refill. This tavern wasn’t well populated right now, so she got it quickly. As far as O'Brien could tell, there were perhaps half a dozen others around here, all of whom glanced in their direction at least once. No one really seemed that hostile in his opinion, at least not to the point of attacking. He would keep an eye on them. 

“If I thought I could get away with it, I’d probably go there,” Misaki said. “Belial’s games have always involved physical fighting more than duels. Not that he doesn’t enjoy a good duel at times too.” 

She tapped the fingers of her left hand on the table between them. “But going there would just lead his people back _here_ and I’m not going to do that.” 

She tilted her head back to look at them. “Did any of that give you any ideas about your friends? Can’t see how it would myself.” 

“Did the tale-spinner say anything else about anyone who might have been there at Brron’s last duel?” Jim wanted to know. 

She twisted her lips thoughtfully. “Now that I think about it, he did mention there were some others who talked to him afterward. To Haou, I mean. Didn’t really give a description, but he said one of them had to have lost his mind.” 

A quick glance between the two of them, the kind they were learning to do without being noticed. 

“Why?” O’Brien wondered. 

“Because he was _yelling_ at Haou. Acted like they were friends and he was upset by the others being dead.” She shook her head. “Can’t imagine doing that.” 

“Shou.” Jim whispered the name before he spoke again, voice louder. “What happened to him?” This could be that elusive hint they’d searched for. 

“He left the arena. Practically ran out. The other two there followed him. Left Haou there all by himself and then _he_ left.” 

She drained her second mug down to nothing. “But if I were him, I wouldn’t go anywhere near where Haou was. He’d probably try to kill me the first chance he got. Same for the other two. If you know someone who has that much power and has that kind of attitude, why would you just leave him?” 

Jim shifted uneasily in his seat. O’Brien stayed where he was, but his grip on his mug tightened. He knew the answer: they’d both been upset with Juudai and worried about Shou, who’d vanished almost as if he were a real magician, and when they’d returned later to the fortress to try to find Juudai, there hadn’t been a trace of anyone there at all. 

Misaki looked up, and if she’d seen anything in their faces she didn’t reveal it. “You said you came looking for another friend?” 

“His name’s Johan Andersen,” O’Brien said, leaning forward. Perhaps they could get something here. “He’s about our age and he plays a deck of Gem Beasts.” Describing what he looked like might not help; he would hardly be the only person in this world with such unusual hair or eyes. But his deck was one of a kind. 

Misaki tapped her fingers again. “Doesn’t seem familiar. But if you’re willing to risk your lives, you could ask those of Belial’s army. They tend to know a lot about duelists.” 

It wasn’t the best advice, let alone information, that they could have asked for, but O’Brien didn’t think they were going to do any better, unless Juudai or Shou happened to walk in the tavern doors and give them all the answers they’d been searching for. 

Which, of course, they didn’t. 

**To Be Continued**

**Notes:** Let’s see, who is in Dark World that I haven’t mentioned yet… Chronos, Echo, Edo, and Ryou. As I have said, I have _plans_. Canon has taken a swerve and the plot with Belial may not conclude in the last chapter of this. Or it may. We’ll all know Saturday, won’t we?


End file.
